


Big-Brother Instinct

by CherryQueen17



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Brotherly Love, Fluff, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Other, Sickfic, Splinter is out running from the cops btw that’s why he’s not here, Worried brothers, Xeno Headcanons, Xenobiology, brumation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:47:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25819060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryQueen17/pseuds/CherryQueen17
Summary: When an encounter with Meat Sweats causes Mikey to get stuck in a freezer and succumb to strange symptoms, his older brothers step in to help him out.
Relationships: Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & Raphael (TMNT)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 187





	Big-Brother Instinct

With the mutant turtles - he couldn’t account for  _ every _ group of siblings out there - there was always a certain protectiveness that Donnie could only attribute to being distinctly an  _ older-brother _ thing; the natural instinct to protect your younger siblings.

Of course, Mikey and Leo have defended him  plenty of times ( _more_ than he’d like to admit, to be honest), and loved him as much as he loved them, but Donnie always assumed their feelings came from a...  different source.  


Not out of loving protectiveness, like him, but loving  _ duty_. They would do it because he was their brother, and they loved him. Donnie felt towards them a certain protectiveness, a _worry_ , that simply couldn’t be put into words. It was something that waxed and waned, but never left.

Right now, though, it was _definitely_ being tested.

“Move your foot out of my face!” Donnie yanked at the loose strands of Leo’s bandanna, which the red eared slider reciprocated with a glare.

“Uh, Move it  _ where, _exactly?” Leo bit back.  


The question was genuine; the two were squished inside of a wooden crate together, and space was incredibly limited. The crate was only long enough for both of the turtles to lay down in with their knees bent slightly, and barely wide enough to fit them both. For some odd reason, there was also a plethora of fruit alongside them, and they were laying opposite to each other, so Leo kicking Donnie in the face was  almost inevitable.

Donnie thought back to how horrible of an idea this was; of course,  _ Raph _ had been the one to suggest it.

The four turtles had seen Meat Sweats loading some crates into an unassuming warehouse, and Raph wanted to investigate.  


So what better method of sneaking in, the snapper turtle had suggested, than getting in the crates and popping out when the pig mutant least expected it? 

While Leo and Donnie shared a crate, Raph and Mikey were each in their own, mostly because adding too much weight to Raph’s would have made Meat Sweats suspicious. 

Donnie held up a single finger to his mouth, motioning for Leo to be quiet, before he peeked out of the box. Meat Sweats was struggling with the crate containing his older brother, sweat dripping down the pig’s face in exertion as he opted to pushing it along the ground instead of carrying it. Thankfully, he seemed to not realize anything was out of the ordinary.

“ Stupid foreign fruits!” Meat Sweats wiped sweat from his brow. “Don’t those fools know how to pack them  _ properly_?!”

After a few minutes, Donnie saw him pick up the crate containing his youngest sibling, and he felt his heart drop. He knew that Mikey could hold his own, but he still couldn’t help but worry. 

He was his littlest brother, after all.

Of course, he said none of that out loud. Leo wouldn’t let him hear the end of it. He was supposed to be the  _ emotionally unavailable _ brother, after all.

Donnie shut the crate right before Meat Sweats picked up their box. It was several minutes of shuffling and the twins being tossed around before Donnie felt the crate  finally being set down. After hearing Meat Sweats footsteps disappear, Donnie breathed a sigh of relief-

-And the twins jumped out of the box, gasping for air and personal space.

“ _ Ugh _ , oh my gosh, remind me to come up with the entrance plan next time.” Donnie wiped off the bits of fruit clinging to his plastron.

“Why do so many of Raph’s plans involve disregarding our personal space? First it was gluing us all together, now _this_ -“ Leo stretched his arms over his head, complete an audible  pop from stretching his back.

“Guys,  _quiet_!” The two turned around to see Raph crawling out of his own crate, and tripping gracelessly onto the floor before sprinting up again. “We’ve got to figure out what that pighead’s up to...”

“Raph, what if,  for once, Meat Sweats is just trying to cook peacefully in his...”

Leo looked around at the bloody hooks hanging from the ceiling.

“... _creepy,_ old, ugly warehouse? Besides, the only thing in these crates are a bunch of weird fruits.” Leo kicked a crate for emphasis.

Donnie pulled down his goggles and scanned one of the crates. “Yikes... there’s literally enough poison in these things to kill a whole supermarket.”

“ What?!” Raph and Leo walked up to the crate to see. The fruit looked innocent, looking almost completely indistinguishable from blueberries and blackberries. 

“All of this fruit is poisonous. The blue round ones are pokeberries.”

As Donnie explained, Leo absentmindedly reached down and plucked one of the berries, bringing it to his mouth. Donnie, _thankfully_ , grabbed Leo’s wrist from going any further.

“They look practically identical to blueberries, except for the teeny tiny fact that they  _ kill you.”  _ Donnie released his twin’s hand, who flicked the fruit away.

“Not the first time one of you tries to eat poison. Alrighty, it’s settled then,” Raph pounded his fists together. “Meathead’s definitely up to something big. We just have to find out what it is.”

“Well, if it’s poison, it means he’s probably trying to kill someone,” Donnie chimed in unhelpfully, “So... we know he’s trying to kill someone.”

“Then it doesn’t matter what his reason is!” Raph pulled out his weapons, “We’re shutting this whole thing down!”

“Guys, wait a second,” Leo looked around. “Where’s _Mikey_?”

The three turtles went silent, and then, in a flurry of motion - and that ever-present protective brotherly instinct - all went to separate parts of the room searching for the fourth crate and the fourth turtle. “Mikey!”

——————-

Meat Sweats placed the small crate onto the counter. Here in his new kitchen, he would finally be able fulfill his plan. He started digging through his supplies.

Out of nowhere, the crate he was next to only a second ago burst open, and the youngest ninja turtle popped out and stood on the counter triumphantly.

“Game over, Meat Sweats! I’m sure whatever delicious, spectacular, amazing-“ At this point, Mikey was getting a bit caught up in being so close to his idol, and shook his head, “- _recipe _ you’re cooking up is no good, and we’re gonna stop you!” 

Mikey pulled out his Kusari-fundo, glaring down at the pig. He looked around, and quietly noted that he was alone, but, surely, his brothers would come bursting through the door any moment now. “...Or, well,  _I’m_ gonna stop you!”

“Blimey!” Meat Sweats was curious, of course, but more so confused. “Wait a bloody second, just how long were you in that crate?”

“Long _enough_ to figure out your evil plan,” Mikey put a finger under his chin. “Any chef knows that the fruit in these crates ain’t safe to eat. You’re trying to use them poison somebody!”

“Well, if selling poisonous blueberry parfaits to my competition and killing all of their business is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.” Meat Sweats pulled a cleaver from a drawer and sneered. “But enough about this. Maybe I’ll postpone the parfaits, because right now I’m in the mood for some turtle  _ piquant!” _

Mikey jumped up, swinging his weapon at Meat Sweats head. The chain wrapped aroundthe pig, and Mikey used the momentum to swing him at the opposite wall.

Meat Sweats yanked the chain, pulling Mikey closer, and took a swing of his knife, which the box turtle swiftly dodged. Meat Sweats took the opportunity to pull the weapon from the turtle’s hand, and kick Mikey across the room, into the freezer.

Mikey crashed into some frozen steaks, and stumbled to his feet as quickly as he could, but not quick enough to get out before Meat Sweats shut the freezer door. 

“Hey, let me out!” Mikey pounded on the door. “Come on, you wouldn’t do this to your biggest fan, would you?” 

Mikey gave him puppy-dog eyes through the glass - a trick which normally worked on his brothers like a charm - but it was to no avail. The pig smiled sadistically through the small window of the freezer. 

“Aw, My apologies, little turtle,” He said with mock sincerity, “I need to keep you in here so you stay  _nice and fresh._ In the meantime, I’ll take care of those other pests.”

—————-

The older turtles all searched everywhere they could, but found no sign of the crate their youngest brother was in. 

“Uh, I don’t think he’s in this part of the ware house. He’s probably  already in there, fighting Meat Sweats.” Leo flapped his hands in worry.

“Or fanboying over him,” Donnie offered, and the other two nodded in shared annoyance. They never understood how Mikey could idolize someone so terrible, but then again, Mikey seemed to see the best in everyone.

Donnie himself, on the other hand, had little patience for redemption arcs.

“We need to find Mikey, but we need to get rid of all this fruit while Meat Sweats isn’t here. Let’s do it as quick as we can so we can find him as soon as possible.” Raph spelled out the plan matter-of-factly, pulled out his Tonfa, and prepared to smash the crates.

“Actually, I have a better idea.” Donnie adjusted his goggles, pulled out his tech-bo, pressed a few buttons, and suddenly, one end of the staff opened up, releasing bright glowing flames, effectively becoming a flamethrower.

“ _What the-_ _?_ ” Leo took a few steps away from the mad scientist who was now armed with  literal fire . Raph did the same.

Donnie lowered the fire to the crates, and incinerated them one by one. The flames illuminated Donnie’s face, his goggles shining and obscuring his eyes. His smile was large and sadistic, glinting in the light of the fire.

“When exactly did you install a  flamethrower setting?” Leo asked, while Raph merely stared at the inferno in shock.

“A few days ago. I’ve been _really_ itching to try it out.”

Raph’s expression was one of deep concern, but he quickly tried to cover it and get the others back on task. “ Okay then,  _well_ , nice work, Donnie! let’s look for Mikey and get rid of the last of the-“

“ _Nooo_!” The turtles turned to see Meat Sweats in the doorway, brandishing a machete. “You turtles will pay for this! Don’t think your work is done. Once I’m through with you, I’ll unleash my poison onto this city using my last batch of fruit!”

“Last batch-?” Leo turned to his brothers. “ Mikey’s in there! ” 

“Then let’s get this party started!” Raph charged at the pig mutant, clocking him in the face.

——————————

It was _so cold_.

Mikey paced around the room, his breath visible. Earlier that day, it had been so warm, too warm, and he had prayed for some relief from it. Now it was the reverse.

The box turtle was so cold, far colder than he’d ever been. As he paced around the room, trying to keep his limbs working, he felt himself slow down, like a wind up toy losing battery. His pace unconsciously slowed, his knees started to hurt. Even his _bones_ felt frozen.

It felt like even his brain was freezing, like his very  thoughts were _slowly_ coming to a halt. Mikey’s imagination had always been active and hyper, and yet,  that was slowing down somehow, too.

Mikey tucked his limbs and head into his shell, following the instinct to salvage any body heat he could. It was fruitless to assume that any part of him wasn’t cold. His vision had gone completely dark, the rumbling of the freezer slowly faded away.  
  


_ Am I dying? _ Mikey thought, a bit delirious, but too sluggish to be scared.

My bros will find me, he absently noted, and he believed it warmheartedly.

Then, his thoughts slowed down until they stopped, as it felt like the world was on pause, like even time itself was  _ frozen_.

——————————

Donnie and Leo rushed past the two into the kitchen. Mikey’s Kusari-fundo lay on the counter.

“Mikey’s weapon!” Leo rushes over and picked it up, then looked back at Donnie. “Come on, what are you doing?!”

“Getting rid of the last of it.” Donnie replies as he lit it on fire, his goggles obscuring his eyes and making the action even scarier to Leo than it should be. 

Donnie sighed as he rolled his shoulders. “You know, lighting stuff on fire is a _lot_ more relaxing than you’d think.”

“How fantastic. You’re already a mad scientist, time to add ‘ _pyromaniac_ ’ to the list.” Leo searched the cupboards, trash can and other spots that Mikey might theoretically be small enough to hide in. 

“Being intrigued by fire is a completely natural instinctive-“

“Guys!” Raph ran in, “Did you get rid of the last batch?”

“Sure did,” Donnie waved his Bo for emphasis.

“Where’s Meat Sweats?”

“Um,” Raph scratched the back of his head, “ I might have hit him...kinda hard.”

The snapping turtle stepped to the side and opened the door. Sure enough, Meat Sweats was lying on the warehouse floor, his face and clothes covered in the ashes of his incinerated fruit, completely unconscious.

“Well, at least he’s taken care of.” Leo began to flap his hands nervously. “but where’s Mikey? I can’t find him anywhere.”

Donnie and Raph began to search as well, which led to the smartest turtle motioning to the massive freezer door that they had all  somehow managed to overlook.

Raph and Leo blinked, The slider slightly annoyed at Donnie for finding something before him. “I could have sworn that wasn’t there before.”

The three older turtles opened it up, and shivered as a blast of the cold air was released. The freezer was dark; inside, large pieces of frozen meat hung from hooks.  
  


Boxes were strewn about on the floor, and among them lay the shell of a box turtle.

“Mikey!” The three rushed in and Raph hurriedly picked up his youngest brother in his arms.

Nervously, the snapper felt the back of the shell, “Oh no, he’s freezing!”

Raph peeked into the hole of the shell where Mikey’s head comes out of. While it was dark, he saw Mikey’s head, his eyes completely shut.

Hearing that, Leo and Donnie both glanced at each other. Leo’s eyes widened in panic as his blood ran cold thinking of the worst case scenario. “You don’t... think that _he’s_...? I mean, turtles aren’t _supposed_ to be  this cold-“

“No, no, no,  _ absolutely _ no,” Donnie shut him down, glaring daggers and jabbed a finger at Leo. “Don’t you even _suggest_ anything like that.” 

The softshell looked back at the box turtle in worry, silently praying that it wasn’t the case. _Anything_ but that.

The turtles always had an odd relationship with the cold; being hybrids between humanity and animals, they found themselves surprisingly resistant to things that regular turtles might not survive. As long as they wore layers and drank hot cocoa, they could play in the snow with a human like April. This was different, since Mikey had been trapped in a freezer -which Donnie realized had been set to  below freezing- with no protection whatsoever, for a few hours, while the others had lost track of time dealing with Meat Sweats.

If Raph was nervous upon finding Mikey, Leo’s suggestion made him _terrified_. Tentatively, with a whimper, Raph held the shell to his head, listening. After a beat, he breathed a sigh of relief. “I hear his heartbeat, but it’s kinda slow.”

The three quickly got out of the freezer as Raph held the youngest turtle to his chest.

“Wait a minute, lemme see him real quick?” Raph handed Mikey to Leo, who stuck his hand into the top hole of the shell, and with an audible pop, pulled Mikey’s head out.

“Leo, don’t be so rough,” Raph snapped.

“No, actually, this makes sense,” Donnie clarified, “If Mikey had hypothermia or was... _you know_ _,_ his limbs would be stiff.”

Leo slowly pulled out his younger brother’s limbs from his shell, until Mikey was completely out, slack in Leo’s arms.

Raph took him back, one hand holding his head and the other under the box turtle’s knees, worriedly looking over his baby brother with tears stinging his eyes. If they didn’t know any better, they would have thought Mikey was just sleeping, as he lay peacefully in his brother’s arms. But Mikey _never_ lay completely still when he was asleep; he would toss and turn, and sometimes kick other people if they were sharing a bed.

Donnie pulled out his phone and began looking up symptoms as Leo examined him further.The slider furrowed his brow. “I don’t think this is hypothermia. I mean, aside from being cold, and having a low heartbeat, everything else seems completely normal. Even his breathing isn’t _too_ bad.”

Leo held Mikey’s hand. While it was cold, it certainly wasn’t stiff, and none of Mikey’s scales or skin seemed to be discolored.

“Whatever this is, it still _definitely_ isn’t normal.” Donnie’s drawn eyebrows raised, as he found what he was looking for. “I think he’s brumating.”

Leo squinted “Broom- _ what _ -ing?”

“Brumation is when a turtle goes in a hibernation-like state during winter,” Donnie read aloud, absentmindedly petting Mikey’s head. “Technically, Mikey isn’t really sleeping right now. He’s just... _ inactive_, I guess.”

“Inactive?” Leo pushes his head closer to his younger sibling’s face. “Mikey, can you hear us?”

If Mikey heard them, there was no way to tell. Upon closer inspection, Leo realized that Mikey’s eyes weren’t completely closed, but seemed far away and glossy, like how they looked when he would catch his baby brother daydreaming. His expression was blank and relaxed, which was disturbing to see on  _ Mikey’s _ face.

The three turtles stood up and began to head back out of the warehouse, carefully stepping over Meat Sweats on the way out.

As they walked, the cool breeze off this particular summer night certainly didn’t help Mikey at all. It wasn’t technically freezing, so the three older turtles only shivered in response, but Mikey seemed to get colder in Raph’s arms.

“A turtle gradually slows down its bodily functions until it becomes inactive during colder temps.” Donnie scrolled down further, skipping a paragraph. “Yadda yadda,  keep in a fridge, _risk of death_ -“

Raph jumped, and gripped Mikey’s shell so tight that Leo feared that he’d get crushed. “ _Risk of DEATH_?!”

“Don’t interrupt, please,” Donnie calmly reprimanded, his tone disturbingly relaxed compared to how Raph felt. He closed his phone. “Okay, so what I’m getting from this is that brumation is something that happens in regular turtles. But it typically occurs over a period of months until winter. It’s possible that with- you know,  _ us, _as mutants, it’s a bit different.”

“But we go out in the cold all the time!” Raph pondered aloud, “why did this happen to Mikey all of a sudden?”

“Maybe its like a defense mechanism,” Leo suggested, “Like, we’d only broom-whatever when we get way too cold .”

“That’s it! As mutants, we’ve developed the ability to shut down our bodies when the elements prove too much for us.” Donnie beamed at Leo for coming to the same conclusion. “Mikey unknowingly shut down some of his bodily functions in order to adapt to the sudden drop in temperature.”

“Let’s test it out! Donald, once Mikey gets better, build a giant freezer, and we’ll time how long we can stay in for.” Leo wrapped an arm around his twin’s shoulders.

“Whatever you do,  _ absolutely _ don’t do that exact thing,” Raph said mostly to Leo, but then he turned his head to the soft shell, “What should we do to snap him out of...brumigation?”

The turtles opened a sewer grate and continued their trek underground.

“ _ Brumation,_ and I think the best thing we can do for him is warm him back up.” Donnie continued, “That way we can trick his body into functioning normally again.” 

Leo pondered. “I think I know just how to do that.”

——————————

He couldn’t tell if he was in the freezer for a few minutes or a few days, but time pressed play and the world was set back in motion as Mikey felt the vibrations of the door as it opened. While his eyesight had deteriorated, he still saw streaks of light pour onto his face. 

Mikey felt himself get picked up from the ground, and heard muffled voices - whom he vaguely recognized as his brothers -all around him. Despite this, he was numb to pretty much everything around him; he couldn’t hear or see anything, and couldn’t even muster up the energy to  move . It was like his body was simply _ giving up. _

He felt a hand touch his face, and soon all of his limbs were out, as he was carried in a pair of warm arms. Even though his vision was shot, from the  _ worried-as-all-get-out-_ _s_ tink he was picking up on, he assumed it must be Raph holding him.

All of his senses were basically nonexistent, and he had no choice but to wait and see what would happen to him. Still, he was able to rely on his ninja training and his good old animal instincts to recognize his family by scent and touch.

Suddenly, he was placed somewhere  soft. He felt the back of his shell being propped up, so he assumed he was sitting on something.

He felt something soft and fluffy being wrapped around him. The air...had definitely warmed up. He took a deep breathe, the warmer air filling his lungs, and heating up his frozen body. It smelled like he was in the sewers. 

His sight was still garbage, to the point where he couldn’t tell if his eyes were closed or not, and his thoughts were still muddled, but he knew that he was back at the lair. 

Muffled voices were coming from around him, and suddenly, he felt himself getting picked up by his middle and then briskly sat back down again; only this time, he was put in someone’s lap. 

Ok, it was  _ definitely _ Raph, given that he’d sat in Raph’s lap countless times before, and he felt the spikes on his brother’s knees.

He felt a hand patting his head, and the longer he sat, the warmer he became, and the clearer his vision got. Not by much; he was now able to make out movement and blurry colors. 

A green and purple blob - ie. Donnie - was moving around the room. The Donnie-Blob stopped suddenly and glanced(?) at him, and shouted something incomprehensible to his left.

Suddenly, a blob Mikey assumed must be Leo dashed in and sat in front of him. He was holding something small and white, that emanated the smell of ginger and lemon.  _ Tea _ .

Peaking behind him, he saw that, as he guessed, he was sitting on Blob-Raph’s lap. He was saying something to him, but even though he could definitely hear Raph’s deeper voice, he simply couldn’t make out what was being said. It was like he was hearing them from another room. 

His head started aching; this was getting overwhelming. He shut his eyes and covered his head with his arms, as he pulled it halfway into his shell, trying to shut everything out. He knew deep down that they were trying to help, and at any other moment he’d probably love the attention, but right now it was just  _ too much-_

He felt the fluffy warm thing that was draped over his shoulders - which he now realized must be a blanket - be draped over his head, and the colors and loud noise were thankfully drowned out. 

Gradually, the background noise settled, his head stopped spinning and Mikey managed to relax. Slowly, he took the blanket down.

——————————

Per Leo’s instructions, Donnie had set up a bunch of blankets around the lair to insulate heat.

Earlier that month, the turtles had put them away in boxes, considering that it was summertime and blankets would just be a hindrance during this time of year anyway. While he did that, Leo researched more about brumation (ie. Googled it on his phone) and had mentioned not to give Mikey any food until they were sure his body was regulated properly again. Raph was holding Mikey in his lap, which he justified by saying that it would help warm him up (he really just wanted an excuse to act like a mother hen).

Donnie took a quick glance at Mikey, and saw that the box turtle’s eyes were looking at him, although they were dazed and unreadable.

Donnie shouted to Leo in the kitchen. “Leo! He woke up!”

Leo zoomed into the room holding a cup of tea, and knelt in front of his little brother. “Hey, buddy. I made you some tea if you’re feeling up for it.”

Donnie glared. “You said he couldn’t eat anything yet.”

“Tea isn’t food!”

The tea was forgotten when the twins heard a whimper, and they turned to see Mikey looking around in a daze. Raph scoffed, holding him closer. “You guys are bugging him! He’s still really sick, and he seems kind of out of it, so we’ve gotta be patient.”

Donnie and Leo’s faces fell. Donnie sat down next to Leo, and the three were quiet for a few seconds before Leo laughed a bit.

“Miguel is gonna be fine, I  know he is, we’ve dealt with  way worse than this, but... it’s hard  not to hate seeing him so... _hurt_ , you know?”

The volume of Leo’s voice seemed to make Mikey wince, and Raph wrapped the blanket on Mikey’s shoulders over his head, making him look like a fluffy lump on Raph’s lap. Raph nodded. “I feel ya. When you guys get sick, I just wanna... I dunno, I’d do whatever I could just to make you not feel so bad anymore. Like, I’d get sick myself if it meant you didn’t have to.”

Donnie blinked. “Well, when you guys are sick, I just try to find a cure. Wishing sickness on yourself is a tad counterproductive, don’t you think?”

Leo rolled his eyes at him. “It’s the principle of the thing, Donald. Besides, I get what you’re saying, Raph.” He patted Mikey’s shoulder. “I’m not sure if Mikey would understand it though. He’s the only one who doesn’t have a little brother to worry about.”

“Tell me about it, I’ve got to deal with _all three_ of you knuckleheads.” Raph and Leo laughed.

Donnie smiled. “Yeah, but let’s be real, Angelo would, one hundred percent guaranteed, worry if something happened to us. He’s too...”Donnie flailed his hands as he searched for the right word, “... _ squishy_.”

“You’re one to talk,” Leo pokes a finger at Donnie’s cheek for emphasis, squishing it. Donnie’s eye twitched. “I’m not saying he doesn’t care, cus he does. But I don’t know if he’d  _get it_ -get it, you know?”

Donnie somewhat understood. The three shared the same feelings; they all knew that _big-brother_ instinct. Heck, it seemed that the age of the turtle was directly proportionate to just how much of that instinct showed itself. Raph basically lived by it, Donnie had his moments but usually kept his protectiveness to a minimum, Leo showed it in situations where it was a must and usually not more than that, and Mikey, who had no little brother, didn’t show it much at all. Mikey was the _only_ one who didn’t have it.

That isn’t to say Mikey didn’t love or defend them; he _definitely_ did. Mikey was full of so much positivity and love, and would fight for them like they would for him.

But Mikey would never understand what it would feel like to be  his big brother. And that’s fine, because they don’t need him to.

Raph smiled. “Aw, you guys are so adorable.”

Donnie clenched his teeth. “ _ Adorable? _It’s like you don’t know me at all.”

Suddenly, Mikey’s head poked from under the blanket. The glazed over look in his eyes from before was gone, and his eyes seemed more focused, much to Donnie’s relief.

“Mikey!” Raph leaned in on his brother. “Are you okay? How do you feel?”

Leo checked his temperature. “He seems warmer for now.” He picked up the forgotten cup of tea. “Drink this if you’re feeling up to it.”

“I-“ before he could get a word out, Mikey felt something cold coming up the back of his throat, his eyes watering. He felt his heart jump.

“On it.” Donnie rushes to the bathroom, and returned with a bucket. “Here.”

Mikey snatched it and vomited something cold and unpleasant. Raph held his bandanna tails behind his head so they wouldn’t get caught in the puke.

“Gross...” Leo turned a paler shade of green. “Turtles aren’t supposed to eat before they broom-mat, since leftover food can poison them when it gets too cold. On top of that, most turtles also don’t eat  five pizzas daily. ”

“How do you know  so much about what brumation is yet still can’t bother to say the full word out loud?!” Donnie exasperated.

“Hey buddy, how do you feel?” Raph gently nudged Mikey’s cheek with his hand once the other had finished puking.

Mikey smiles weakly. “Good as new...” his voice was shaking, “Cowabung-“ he interrupted himself with more vomiting.

Once Mikey was done, the brothers all plopped down and put on an old  Jupiter Jim rerun. Mikey took steady sips of his tea. 

——————————

“I want to stay up with you guys! Just cause I got sick doesn’t mean I have to go to bed early.” Mikey pouted.

“I’m not saying that you have to go to sleep. I’m just saying that you should close your eyes for a few minutes just to  _ see _ if you fall asleep.” Leo encouraged.  


Mikey had been shifted to sit next to Leo in the makeshift nest made of blankets, with Raph laying on his stomach on the other side of the slider. Donnie sat crosslegged on Mikey’s other side, holding the remote.

The box turtle, while steadily recovering, seemed to still be suffering some mild consequences of brumation that his brothers wanted to keep a close eye on. His head was still hurting, he was still shivering, and he’d get incredibly dizzy if he tried to stand up. The four turtles decided to hold a little “party” in front of the tv.

It was quite late - nearly midnight, but Mikey insisted on staying up as late as his brothers like usual, despite the fact that he was incredibly sick and struggling to hold his head upright.

Raph folded his arms, getting into “Mini Dad” mode. “I agree with Leo. You’re still not in the best shape, and this is the first time we’ve dealt with Broom- _something_. It’s late as it is, anyways.”

“You guys really need to quit babying me,” Mikey huffed, “I told you, I’m  _ fine _ now.  And I’m not even tired!” He crossed his arms as well, as if to _prove_ that he wasn’t tired.

His eyes blinking out of sync with each other, like he was fighting off sleep right then and there, and the bags underneath, proved otherwise.

“Sorry, but babying you is in my job description.” Raph said as he put his hands on his hips and stood up.

To Donnie, _all_ of his brothers, not just Mikey, looked tired, presumably from all of the stress of their baby brother _nearly_ -

Upon seeing the disappointment in Mikey’s face, Donnie perked up. “ _Actually_ , Raphael, I propose a  compromise; how about one more movie, and then we can all go to sleep after that?”

Raph seemed surprised that Donnie, of all turtles, was taking Mikey’s side. But one glance down at Mikey’s puppy-dog eyes made his final decision clear. “Ugh, fine, but after that it’s off to bed.”

Mikey beamed. “ Yes! You’re the best, D- oh, wait, I know which one we should watch  next-“ the box turtle tried to jump up and grab the remote from him, only to nearly fall and slam his face on the ground before Leo caught him.

——————————

Needless to say, Mikey had fallen asleep halfway through the film, as had Leo and Raph.

The largest turtle was lying on his stomach, with Leo basically using him as a pillow. Mikey had grabbed a blanket at some point and was wrapped up like a burrito next to Donnie.

The softshell’s sleep patterns were out of wack as it is, so it didn’t surprise him that he was the only one awake. What  was a surprise was how Leo, as much of an insomniac as he is, was able to sleep, much less somehow sleep on Raph’s spiny shell. He must have been really tired.

Donnie shut off the movie and carefully maneuvered over to Raph. “Hey, bro-“

Raph startled awake. “ _Huh-?”_

Donnie shushed him, and then quietly pointed to Leo and Mikey. A look of understanding was shared between the two, and they slipped into _big-brothers-tucking-little-brothers-into-bed_ mode.

Ever so gently, Raph got out from under Leo, and picked him up. He turned to Donnie, a smile on his face. “G’night, brother.”

As Raph put the slider to bed, Donnie turned back to Mikey. His job was already halfway done for him, since his little bro was already wrapped up. Quietly, he scooped the burrito up and headed off to Mikey’s room.

After leaving him in his hammock, Donnie felt a sting of concern when Mikey’s breath hitched in an odd way. _Were the effects of brumation still there?_

Mikey’s breathing settled back into his soft snoring, and Donnie exhaled in relief.

...Maybe it would be fine to just stay and keep watch on him. Donnie wasn’t like Raph, he wasn’t overprotective by any means, and he knew deep down that Mikey would be just fine, but...

If they had taken any longer to get to him than they did, he _definitely_ would be...

It wouldn’t _hurt_ to make sure his baby brother would be ok.

Donnie sat on one of the beanbags and scrolled through his phone.

——————————

Mikey woke up at around 2:00 AM, and glanced around. For a few seconds, he was unsure of where he was, until he looked up at the familiar ceiling of his bedroom.

Mikey yawned, and turned to his side. Donnie was there, asleep on his beanbag, his phone screen turned on and lying on his chest.

Mikey smiled. He felt a little bad that his brothers were worrying so much about him. He was 13, and he should have been able to handle things himself.

Reaching out of the hammock, Mikey grabbed Donnie’s phone to turn it off, knowing how grouchy he’d get if his battery died overnight.He tossed one of his blankets onto the beanbag, covering his older brother.

At least Donnie was able to finally fall asleep. He always thought Donnie and Leo didn’t sleep anywhere near as much as they should.

Satisfied, he fell back asleep. He couldn’t help but worry. They  were his big brothers, after all. It was a natural instinct.

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, I started off wanting to write about brumation, but then I got caught up in fluff, so here is the final product.
> 
> Edit: PLEASE, if you have a pet turtle, do not use this as a guide on how to care for a turtle that is brumating. This is not a guide, and I don’t want anyone to follow this and end up hurting any poor turtles. Everything in this fix is written with some research I did, but I also took some liberties with the science.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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